The Birthday Present
by Harakudoshi
Summary: Kirino's birthday is coming soon, and Kyousuke wants to do something special for her. The problem is, he can't figure out what would be good. What's he to do? Rated T for mild language.


Authors' note: Hello all. This is my second fanfiction as of yet, and first for Ore no Imouto. I figure since the series never really went into Kyousuke's interests and hobbies outside of what was relevant to the plot, I decided to take some artistic liberties and give him a talent. Please excuse any OOC-ness, I have issues writing for tsundere characters. Italics indicate first person thought. I appreciate any feedback, negative or positive. Thanks for taking the time to read my story!

Disclaimer:

Neither Ore no Imouto Ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai, nor the characters depicted in this fiction belong to me.

**The Birthday Present**

"Gah! What should I do?" Kyousuke wondered to himself as he sat in his room. His little sister Kirino's birthday, (as well as the same general time as the anniversary of their first 'life consultation') was coming in a few weeks. He wanted to surprise her with something that symbolised the better relationship they had founded since then, but so far he was drawing blanks for ideas. He wasn't normally one for sentimentality, but this was a special occasion. "I can't get her jewelry, I've done that already-not to mention it's caused me to go broke-Maybe somewhere to eat? No, I want to do something she'll remember. what to do, What to do..." After a while spent on wracking his brain for ideas, he decided to go downstairs for some barley tea. (It had always helped him to relax and clear his mind since he was little.) As he walked past the living room, he noticed Kirino laying on the sofa chatting a storm on her phone as usual. She prattled on about normal teenaged girl things, of which he couldn't much care for. But one part of the conversation caught his attention.

"... Yeah, just three weeks, I'll finally be fifteen! ... No, I haven't any plans, as it stands-heh, that rhymed-so I was probably going to just relax at home. It's nice to be able to take a break every once in a while..."

After that, Kyousuke decided to finish his drink and head back to his room before she (rightly so) accused him of eavesdropping. He flopped down onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Well, at least she'll be home. That way whatever I figure out I can give to her in private." He rolled onto his side and looked at the light pink laptop on his desk, and wondered if he should work on 'Four Sisters Paradise', the game Kirino had lent-more like commanded-for him to finish, before deciding he'd rather a nap instead. He drifted off still thinking of something to do for her birthday.

***WHAM***

***WHAM***

"Oi, sis-con! It's time for dinner! If you're hungry, you better get downstairs or we'll eat without you."

Kyousuke woke to Kirino kicking his door. He wasn't feeling particularly hungry, but he didn't feel like listening to the enevitable pestering he'd recieve from her if he didn't get up. "Alright, I'm coming. Quit assaulting my door before you break it down." He opened the door to see Kirino standing there, arms crossed and making a face of mild annoyance at him.

"Why are you so lazy? I hurt my foot on your door.." She pouted.

"Maybe you shouldn't be kicking it, then." Kyousuke retorted, trying to sound witty.

"Shut up. You didn't wake up when I called your name, and the door was locked."

"Yeah, I lock it to keep you from attacking me in my sleep." At that quip, she slugged him in the arm. "The hell!? What was that for?"

"... Baka." She left him standing and rubbing his sore arm at the top of the stairs, "Jeez, so violent.." before he walked down to join the rest of the family for dinner.

After dinner, Kyousuke went back to his room, where he decided to start working on "Four Sisters Paradise" lest he face Kirino's wrath for taking too long. The game was the standard interactive novel affair, though the premise a bit odd. That is, the brother (you) as well as his three younger sisters and one elder sister survive a ship wreck onto a deserted island. Though this island is what you'd imagine a tropical paradise island in the south pacific would look like. Kyousuke thought it'd be a nice change of pace from the usual eroge he was forced to play, unfortunately the storyline seemed to be the same cookie cutter "Onii-chan, I love you!" sort of thing. "I honestly don't see how she doesn't grow tired of how predictable these games can be." He grumbled to himself. Almost as if on cue, Kirino barged her way into his room.

"So, have you been playing 4SP? Almost done yet?" She demanded in a matter-of-fact way.

"I'm playing it now, as you can see. I'm doing the elder sister route."

"Oh, that one... I didn't much care for that one, she was annoyingly hard. Why couldn't the developers just make four little sisters? It'd been much cuter." She whined.

"Not everything is set out to cater to your needs, y'know." Was his smart response, to which he recieved a solid kick to the shin.

"Here, let me help you through it. You're too dense to pick up on her cues for the right answer." Kirino elbowed Kyousuke's head aside and looked over his shoulder, before grabbing the mouse with his hand still on it. "Don't get any funny ideas 'bout this, I'm just trying to help."

Of course, Kyousuke's attention had been drawn elsewhere. He couldn't help but notice her still filling out but already well defined figure pressed into his back as she leaned over him. When he noticed the blush starting to creep across his face, he forced his attention back to the game. After a while of watching, his mind again began to wander as to what he was going to do for Kirino's birthday. He had had an idea during dinner, but quickly remembered that particular skill wasn't known to anyone outside of him and Manami. It was something he did in private for fear of ridicule, and how it went against his wishes for a normal life. He had no formal training in it, it was a skill that just came natural to him. Whatever he saw with his eyes, or in his mind, he was able to reproduce the exact way he wanted. In fact, he could be considered a prodigy in it. Of course, Kyousuke wasn't aware that his talent was of that level. As such, he opted to keep it a secret, and hide his finished works in an area in his closet that no one would be able to find them without looking. When Kirino had first broken into his room prior to their first life consultation to find the game she was sure he had, Kyousuke was certain she had found his works, and would mercilessly taunt him for them. After she didn't mention them, his fears were eventually laid to rest. Even after Kirino had revealed to him her otaku nature, he still couldn't bring himself to reveal his secret talent. And since she had never asked about his hobbies or interests, he never saw reason to tell her.

"Oi, hentai, come back to Earth. You even listening to me?"

Kirino's words brought Kyousuke out of his thoughts to realise that he had been blankly staring into the distance for the better part of twenty minutes, to which Kirino had just taken notice of.

"Eh.. Sorry, Kirino. My mind was somewhere else, what were you saying?" he meekly responded.

"Thinking of perverted things, no doubt. I was saying that for this section you need to PAY ATTENTION, because some of the answers are very similar."

"Oh, yeah I see that. It's a good thing you're here to help me, then."

"Ehh?! S-shut up, baka sis-con! Don't say things like that..." She trailed off, clearly flustered and fumbling over her words a bit. For reasons he still didn't fully comprehend, Kyousuke had always enjoyed seeing her embarassed. He thought she looked kind of cute when she was.

They continued to play until Kirino complained about how tired she was, then promptly left the room. At which, Kyousuke decided to check the time. "12:40!? I need to be up at seven tomorrow, damn that girl..." he muttered to himself before saving their progress on 4SP, then laying down to go to sleep.

"Ohayou, Kyou-chan!" Manami's usual happy mood greeted Kyousuke as he left his house the next morning.

"Eh? Oh, ohayou Manami." Kyousuke blearily yawned back.

"Oh my, you look so tired! Did you not sleep well?" Manami questioned after noticing how exhausted her childhood friend looked.

"No, I was up past midnight playing a game, I had lost track of time."

"That's not good for you not to get enough rest, you're still a growing boy. You need your energy."

"You say that as if you're a grandmother scolding her grandchild. But thank you for your concern." To that, Manami smiled her warm smile to him. After a few minutes of walking, Kyousuke's mind inevitably went back to the question of what to do for Kirino's birthday. Manami took note in his change of demeanour, and decided to ask what was wrong. "Kyou-chan, is there something on your mind?"

"Actually, there is. You see, Kirino's birthday is in a few weeks, and I've been struggling as to what I should do for her. Have you any ideas? I was thinking a game would be good."

"Hmm.. I don't think she'd care what it was, as long as it was a gift from you."

"The thing is, though, I want this to represent the better relationship we've founded over the past year. Something that commemorates it, if that makes sense."

"Yes, I understand. Maybe instead of just buying something, something from your heart would mean more? Something that's special and just for her."

"Yeah.. That's a good idea! Thanks, you always give the best advice." The unexpected compliment causes Manami's face to flush crimson.

"N-no, it's nothing really. Just a friend helping a friend, is all." she coyly mumbled, turning away to hide her blush.

"Still, it's greatly appreciated. Thank you."

The rest of the day went as normal, boring classes, taking a nap, such and such. Now that Kyousuke had an idea as to what to do, he just had to find something specific he could do. It was that decision that now plagued his mind, and caused him to realise he hadn't actually gone far in his search for ideas. As he sat in his room attempting to study, he began to look out of his window at the sky. As he watched the streaks of yellow, orange, and red of dusk fade to the purple of night, inspiration finally struck him. He fetched his supplies from his closet, and began to work until the sun fell completely beyond the horizon. Once the colours had faded from the sky, he left his work-in-progress in an area where it could properly dry and went back to his schoolwork. For the next two weeks, he kept this schedule (weather permitting). He wanted the sky, the greenery, everything to look perfect. On the evening he was halfway through the second part of his project, he decided to take a break for some tea and relax on the sofa. What he didn't realise was a few minutes after he left his room, Kirino took it upon herself to grace him with her presence, and to let him borrow another of her games. When Kyousuke returned to his room, he found her studying his project very carefully.

"Aniki, what is this..?" she quietly asked as he came through the door. Kirino wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at. The top half of the paper was mostly a dark purple, below that to the left was dark green. To the right were many rectangular black shapes with lights of various colours on them. under that was mostly blank, save for a brown rectangle with unpainted areas on it.

"Kirino, don't look at that! It's not finished!" Kyousuke panicked, before trying to grab the paper from her. Unfortunately, Kirino was faster than him and was able to keep it out of his reach.

"No, tell me what this is." she asked more firmly.

"It's... It's a gift for someone. Please understand that I can't say any more than that right now. it'll make more sense in the future, but right now I just can't tell you."

Kirino watched him, studied him, to see if he were lying. When she gathered he was being honest, in a surprising bout of maturity decided that when her brother waanted to tell her what the painting was about and for who, he would. "Alright." She finally said before setting the painting down on his desk and started to make her way to his door.

Kyousuke was taken aback. _Is she really not going to question me further about it?_ Then she stopped just short of the door, and remembered why she was upset in the first place.

"Wait.. Why didn't you tell me you paint?"

_Of course it wouldn't be that easy_, Kyousuke thought. "I err.. It never came up, I guess. And it didn't seem important, so I never saw need to mention it."

"But I told you my hobbies, why not tell me yours?"

"Honestly, you never much seemed interested in me, about me, or the goings on in my life."

"That's not true, though... I just didn't know how to ask, I figured you'd tell me when you wanted to. Do you not trust me?"

Kyousuke may be dense, but he knew a loaded question when it slapped him in the face like that. And Kirino isn't one to fire blanks. "I do, but it never seemed relevant to what we talk about. I didn't want to just start talking about myself when I'm trying to get to know you. I missed out on helping you grow up. I don't want to miss out on helping you become an adult, if I can help it."

"But did you ever think that maybe I felt the same way? That I want to be a part of your life? To know what you like to do, what you find interesting, hell maybe just the sort of music you like? I don't know anything about you... You always listen to me, and help me, throw yourself under the bus for me, yet you never ask for anything in return.. Don't you understand how that makes me feel? I feel like I'm just using you like some sort of advice machine, then when I'm done with you I toss you aside until I need you again. Why don't you ever ask for anything?"

Kyousuke didn't know how to respond to that. He had honestly never even thought about it, he was just happy to have his sister in his life again regardless of how annoying she could be. After a moment of reflection, he found his answer. "I.. I don't know. I just... It's who I am. You're my sister and I love you, dearly so. I want to be there for you, I want to help you, I want you to be happy. When you're happy, it makes me happy. That's what matters to me, I suppose. I don't need anything from you, because I get enough just having you back in my life."

Kirino wasn't expecting such a sincere response, and as such was a more than a little struck by her brother's words. When she collected her thoughts, she managed a response. "...Thank you, Aniki, for everything you've done for me the past year. You... You've really proven yourself to be an amazing older brother. Thank you. Just.. try to be a little more open with me from now on? You don't need to hide things from me, it's not like I'm going to maliciously attack you, verbally or otherwise. I'll only just play a bit like normal. You do realise my insults aren't to be taken to heart, right?"

"Yes, I know. And alright, understood. You're welcome."

"So, if I may ask, who's that painting for?"

"I can't tell you. You will find out soon, and it will make sense as to why I can't tell you, I promise. But for now, bear with me on this, okay?"

"Alright, if you say so. Oh! the reason I came in here in the first place was because I have another game I want you to play."

"What is it?"

" 'Young young let's play with sister!' "

"Figured as much."

"Shut up, it's cute."

They spent the rest of the evening playing together. The next morning, Kyousuke was greeted by cheery as ever Manami.

"Good morning, Kyou-chan!"

He returned her greeting in the same tone. "Good morning, Manami."

Manami took note at his rather upbeat disposition, and decided to ask him about it. "You seem in a positive mood, did something good happen?"

"I had a talk with Kirino last night, it picked up my spirits."

"Oh, I see. It's good the two of you are able to grow closer together." Manami stated quietly, more to herself than to Kyousuke.

"Speaking of, It seems I don't ever ask about you, Manami. How are you doing? Anything interesting going on in your life?"

Manami wasn't used to him just asking about her, and didn't know to respond at first. "Oh, I-no, there isn't. But thank you for asking." What had they spoke about to make Kyousuke curious about her life, she wondered. But she figured it was personal, and decided it was best not to pry into it.

"Alright, well don't forget, you can come to me if you ever need help with anything."

"Okay, I won't forget, Kyou-chan."

The rest of the day went the same as usual except his lifted mood made it seem better than normal. When he arrived home, and for the rest of the week for that matter, Kyousuke could swear Kirino's teasing carried less venom. It even seemed she asked about him more.

It wasn't until late morning that Kirino woke up, Kyousuke and their parents having set up for her birthday whilst she slept. They had done up the dining room with balloons and streamers, amongst other festive decorations. When she came in to the room, he and their parents wished her a happy birthday, and their parents gave her her present; a pair of silver earrings with her birthstone in it. Needless to say she was ecstatic. Afterwards, she cast a glance at Kyousuke, expecting to see what he had gotten for her. When he didn't give her anything, Kyousuke could see the hurt on her face. _She must think I forgot_, he thought to himself. _But boy, is she in for a surprise later_. It was then Kyousuke and their parents retrieved her cake. It was nothing fancy, just said 'Happy Birthday Kirino' with a 1 and 5 candle stuck in, simple decorations. It was strawberry flavour, (her favourite) with vanilla icing. Just before the family could start at the cake, Kirino's friends Ayase and Kanako stopped by. At that, Kirino asked-morely forced-Kyousuke to his room, so as to not 'contaminate her friends with his perviness', to which he begrudgingly complied. At least it allowed him to put the final touches on his present for her. After a while he decided he was thirsty, (and wanted to see how the party was going) so he went down to the kitchen. He was met with his mother Yoshino starting to clean the decorations.

"Okaa-san, where'd Kirino go?" Kyousuke asked as he started to help her tidy up.

"Oh, they said they were going to take her out for her present. Since she didn't have anything planned, they wanted to treat her for her special day." She replied.

"I see." After he finished helping clean the dining room, he made the glass of tea he originally set out for and settled down in the living room to watch television. An hour later, Kirino arrived home. "Did you have a fun day out?" He half greeted-half inquired as she walked by. Kirino just tsked at him, and continued on her way to her room. Kyousuke noted the new handbag slung over her shoulder, and figured that her friends must've taken her shopping. Normally he would've been offended at her brushing him off, but he knew she still must think he forgot her birthday and as such he chose not to make a comment.

Late into the evening after their parents had gone to sleep, Kyousuke decided it was a good time to give Kirino her present. He knocked on her door and waited a few moments. No response. He knocked again and called her name to get her attention. "Oi, Kirino, you in there?"

After a pause, she responded. "...What do you want." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I have something for you, if you want it."

"It better not be anything perverted," she grumbled as the opened her door a crack and peeked out a bit. Kyousuke lifted her gift up so she could see it. She opened her door, and meandred to her computer desk, where she sat and looked at him. He handed her the wrapped gift. It was a fairly wide and flat rectangle, about sixty centimetres by fourty, and wrapped in a cerise wrapper.

"What is it," she inquired.

"Open it and find out."

"I swear, if it's something dirty, I'll definitely..." Her voice trailed off as she finished unwrapping it. What she saw was a framed painting done in watercolours, the varying ways the paint had dried made the image shimmer as if it were slightly moving when you held it. On the top was a carmine red, which faded to a rich vermilion, then burnt orange, then gold. below was an expanse of sparkling ultramarine which glimmered from an unseen light source. below that, and in front of a low ornate guardrail was a bench, to which a teenaged boy and girl sat a bit of a distance apart. The girl, who sat to the left, wore a sky blue jacket, under which she wore a thigh length dress that went progressively lighter from navy blue at the top to white at the bottom. she wore sandals whose colour matched her jacket, and which had artificial flowers on the part that covered her feet. She had on several bracelets, and silver earrings. Her long venetian blonde hair had a clip to keep her fringe to the side, and out of her face. She sat cross legged, her left arm behind the bench. She was turned slightly away from the boy, a slightly angry expression on her face, and a touch of pink over her cheeks. The boy sat on the opposite end of the bench, and had a decidedly more casual outfit. He wore a burgundy knit pullover with a white collared shirt underneath, dark indigo jeans, and black sneakers. He sported medium length black hair which flared out a little at the ends, and had a rather annoyed look on his face. His right arm was behind the bench. The bench had a wooden frame, with a decorative metal back, through which you could see the two holding hands. It was a painting of her and Kyousuke, Kirino realised.

"It's double sided." Kyousuke stated. As she flipped it over, her face went from rose to crimson. What she saw was what appeared to be the same scene as depicted from behind. Except now it appeared later in the evening, such as the stars were in the sky. It seemed each one was a perfect white dot on the black of space, the powder blue of the Milky Way even visible. The two on the bench now sat side by side, her head rested on his shoulder, as they looked out upon the lights of Chiba. Kirino continued to look at the two paintings wordlessly for a few minutes before Kyousuke said something. "I made it double sided so you can choose which side you want showing when it's hung on the wall. It seemed to depict our relationship best when I got the idea for it." Kirino stayed silent. "Do you like it..?" Kyousuke asked, now a little worried that Kirino refused to look him in the eyes. Instead, she stood and gently laid the painting on her bed. She then walked slowly towards him, her face still looking down and hidden behind her hair. Kyousuke started to back away, before he closed his eyes and decided to embrace his death. He hoped it'd be quick. But it never came. Instead, he felt Kirino wrap her arms around him as tight as she could, enough to break his spine. He opened his eyes and looked down at her. She looked back up at him, Her face still bright red and her eyes watery.

"I love it.."


End file.
